Biggest stories of 2018, ranked

55. Georgia teacher shoots gun in classroom

Quite a lot happened in 2018. Using a combination of unique-visitor data and input from our editorial team, we've compiled this list counting down the 55 biggest and most popular stories on CBSNews.com.

Jesse Randal Davidson, a social studies teacher at Dalton High School in Georgia, barricaded himself in an empty classroom and fired one shot, causing a chaotic evacuation. He pleaded guilty to related charges and was sentenced to two years in prison.

Credit: Whitfield County Sheriff’s Office

54. Pittsburgh synagogue shooting

Armed with an AR-15 and three handguns, Robert Bowers entered the Tree of Life synagogue on Oct. 27 and killed 11 people, injuring six more, police say. On Nov. 1, he pleaded not guilty to related charges.

Credit: Getty Images

53. Thousand Oaks bar shooting

On Nov. 8, a 28-year-old U.S. Marine Corps combat veteran, Ian David Long, opened fire on the crowd at the Borderline Bar and Grill in Thousand Oaks, California. He killed 12 people, including a sheriff's deputy responding to the emergency, before killing himself.

Credit: Apu Gomes/AFP/Getty Images

52. "America's Got Talent" accident

In July, a woman was dropped during a trapeze stunt on the NBC show "America's Got Talent." Though the studio audience got quite a scare, the floors were lined with safety mats, and she hopped up injury-free.

Credit: NBC

51. Sailor's disappearance

Shaun Palmer, a U.S. Navy sailor, was considered missing after he sent a cryptic text to his parents and failed to report for duty at the Marine Corps base in Hawaii. Palmer safely returned to the base after a few days.

Credit: Kent Nishimura/Getty Images

50. Jaisaan Lovett graduation speech

Jaisaan Lovett, the first black valedictorian of University Preparatory Charter School for Young Men in Rochester, New York, was refused the opportunity to speak at his graduation ceremony. So Mayor Lovely Warren invited Lovett to give his speech at City Hall.

41. Chemicals found in breakfast cereals

General Mills told CBS News, "Our products are safe and without question they meet regulatory safety levels. The EPA has researched this issue and has set rules that we follow."

This year, General Mills settled one lawsuit on the matter and, as a part of the settlement, plans to remove the "100 percent natural" claim from its Nature Valley granola bar packaging.

Credit: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

40. Burger chains given "F" over antibiotics in meat

22 U.S. burger chains, including McDonald's and Burger King, were given a failing grade on their policies of antibiotics use in beef products.

The report by several watchdog agencies, including Consumer Reports, said that the "F" grades were given "for lacking any announced policy to source beef raised without the routine use of antibiotics."

A McDonald's spokesperson said, "McDonald's is currently finalizing a global antibiotics policy for beef, to begin roll out before the end of 2018."

Credit: Getty Images

39. "Permit Patty"

Alison Ettel was dubbed "Permit Patty" when a Twitter video went viral showing her calling the police on an 8-year-old girl, who is black, for selling bottled water without a permit in San Francisco.

Credit: Erin Austin via CBS News

38. Omarosa's audio tapes

Omarosa Manigault-Newman released an audio recording from the 2016 campaign in which she and another aide discussed the possibility of a tape in which Donald Trump allegedly used the N-word during his time on "The Apprentice."

Mr. Trump has denied ever using the term, and no such tape has surfaced.

Credit: Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty Images

37. Sneaky dogs steal mail carrier's lunch

A mail carrier left a note that Carol Jordan's dogs had snuck into his truck to eat his lunch, hoping the dogs wouldn't become sick from their ill-begotten snack. When the woman wrote an apology note on behalf of her dogs, the story went viral.

Credit: Carol Jordan via CBS News

36. Royal family welcomes a new baby

Prince William and Kate, Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, welcomed their third child this year. Prince Louis was born in April.

Credit: Dominic Lipinski/AFP/Getty Images

35. New clues about Amelia Earhart

Researchers found new clues that suggest long-missing aviator Amelia Earhart may have crash-landed on a remote island in the South Pacific.

Credit: Staff / AFP/Getty Images

34. Calif. Chick-fil-A store raises wages

In June, one Chick-fil-A store owner in Sacramento raised its minimum wage to a "living wage" of at least $17 per hour.

Credit: Tom Pennington/Getty Images

33. A reporter goes missing in Houston

A sports reporter temporarily went missing near this mall in Houston, Texas. Courtney Roland was later found, unharmed, under a freeway overpass nearby. Roland released a statement that she believes she suffered an adverse reaction to prescription medication.

31. Woman berates baby, flight attendant

Susan Peirez was forced to take leave from her job when a video went viral of Peirez berating a flight attendant on Delta Air Lines. Peirez can be heard saying, "I'm not sitting by a crying baby" and threatening to have the flight attendant fired.

30. Disasters on Hawaii's Big Island

29. Demi Lovato overdose

Demi Lovato suffered an apparent drug overdose in July. Lovato was found unresponsive in her Los Angeles home and was reportedly revived with naloxone, a drug used to reverse opioid overdoses.

Credit: Joel C Ryan/Invision/AP

28. The "holy grail of shipwrecks"

An unmanned submarine called the Remus 6000 helped a team of researchers locate a shipwrecked Spanish galleon that sank in the Caribbean in 1701. The ship, the San Jose, carried a treasure worth up to $17 billion.

25. Winter Olympics

24. Wolf creature shot in Montana

After a large wolf-like creature was shot in Montana in May, pictures of the animal drew comparisons to the dire wolf breed from "Game of Thrones." A DNA test later revealed that the creature was, in fact, a grey wolf.

Credit: Montana Fish, Wildlife And Parks

23. California wildfires

Northern and Southern California were both ravaged by wildfires in November. The Camp Fire in Butte County became the deadliest in state history. The total area burned in the state is just shy of 250,000 acres, around 400 square miles.

Credit: Noah Berger/AP

22. Barbara Bush dead

21. "Bomb cyclone" storm

In January, a large winter storm, dubbed a "bomb cyclone" by meteorologists, brought sub-zero wind chills and feet of snow to the East Coast. There were reports of snow as far south as Tallahassee, Florida.

Credit: Scott Eisen/Getty Images

20. John McCain dead

Arizona Sen. John McCain died on August 25 at 81. He died after battling glioblastoma, a form of brain cancer.

Credit: Jae C. Hong/Getty Images

19. Midterm elections

On November 6, the United States held its midterm elections. Democrats reclaimed a majority in the House and a record number of women were elected to Congress. Republicans gained two seats in the Senate.

18. "Roseanne" canceled

ABC canceled Roseanne Barr's reboot of "Roseanne" in May after Barr posted a racist tweet. The show was given new life as "The Conners," a spin-off that follows the Conner family without Barr or her character.

17. Santa Fe, Texas high school shooting

16. XXXTentacion killed

Rapper XXXTentacion was killed in June when four men with guns reportedly ambushed him while he was driving in Miami. Four suspects were arrested by late summer.

Credit: Brynn Anderson/AP

15. YouTube HQ shooting

A woman opened fire at YouTube's headquarters in San Bruno, California in April. Three people were wounded before the woman, identified as 39-year-old Nasim Najafi Aghdam, killed herself.

Credit: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

14. Georgia gubernatorial race

Stacey Abrams would have been the first black woman governor in U.S. history had she been elected in Georgia. But after a heated campaign marred by allegations of voter suppression, she was defeated by Republican Brian Kemp and conceded on November 16.

Credit: Jessica McGowan/Getty Images

13. Mollie Tibbetts killed

Iowa college student Mollie Tibbetts was reported missing from her hometown of Brooklyn, Iowa in July after she did not show up for work one morning. Her body was discovered in a field over a month later. Cristhian Bahena Rivera, 24, has been charged with first degree murder in the case and pleaded not guilty.

Credit: Charlie Neibergall/AP

12. Super Bowl LII

11. Powerball

Sam Safa, seen here, owns the New Hampshire convenience store where a Powerball ticket matching all six lottery numbers was sold in January. The winner, who chose to remain anonymous, claimed the $570 million jackpot.

Credit: Steven Senne/AP

10. Hurricane Michael

Hurricane Michael, one of the most powerful hurricanes to ever make landfall on the U.S. mainland, slammed into the Florida Panhandle in October. It killed at least 43 people.

Credit: Joe Raedle / Getty Images

9. Yanny vs. Laurel

In May, an audio clip perplexed listeners. People argued online over what the voice was saying — Yanny or Laurel. Experts said that people could hear either, depending on which frequencies were amplified.

Credit: Getty Images/iStockphoto

8. Brett Kavanaugh confirmation

Brett Kavanaugh was sworn in as a Supreme Court justice in October after a hearing to investigate claims that Kavanaugh had sexually assaulted Dr. Christine Blasey Ford when the two were in high school.

3. Thai cave rescue

All of the members of a Thai youth soccer team and their coach were rescued from a flooded cave after an 18-day ordeal that captured the attention of the world.

Credit: Lillian Suwanrumpha/AFP/Getty Images

2. Stormy Daniels

Stormy Daniels, an adult film actress, claims to have had an affair with President Trump. Former Trump attorney Michael Cohen allegedly paid Daniels to keep quiet about the affair, just days before the 2016 presidential election. Daniels told her story in a "60 Minutes" interview in March.

Credit: CBS News

1. Mega Millions

The most-viewed story on CBSNews.com this year: The Mega Millions jackpot climbed to a staggering $1.5 billion before a single winning ticket was sold in October. The winner, who has still not claimed the ticket at the time of publication, purchased the ticket in Simpsonville, South Carolina. The winner has 180 days to claim the prize.